Quick and Easy Teacher Gift

Apparently it's Teacher Appreciation Day next week?! 

I had no idea that even existed so I'm glad I came across this post on Eighteen25

I uploaded their picture to Walgreen's and had three 8 x 10 copies printed for about $3 each.

found 8x10 frames at Walmart for $4 and sprayed painted them glossy red.

Easy and really cute. 

Go check out Eighteen25. 

Cute stuff!

Power Of Moms

I tweak a lot of things around here. Furniture, walls, lights etc. If it's not bolted down it's not safe from my crazy addiction for change. You know what else needed tweaking?! My brain!! With four kids (ages 7,5,3,1) things tend to get pretty hectic/chaotic/completely out of control around here.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend a "Mother's retreat" with my mom and sisters. It was a much needed break from the everyday norm and I returned home motivated to implement everything I learned to have a more organized, peaceful, systematic home.
If you get the chance, you should register for the May retreat. You'll learn so much and your family relationships will be better for having gone.
Click HERE to learn more and to register. Space fills up quick!

LOVE/HATE...But mostly Love

....Walmart....

They had all their indoor plants 50% OFF. I got this one for $6.50

and this sweet turquoise/teal pot for only $10

It just happens to match my new rug perfectly.

Plus, I grabbed a little 2 oz bottle of 'tester paint' while I was there

and it happens to be the exact color as the teal in the rug as well...

I'm thinking the piano is going to end up 

"Totally Teal"

Street Flasher turned Bedside Light

Ha! That title makes me laugh! I think I'll keep it! :)

We're in the process of redoing the boys room. It's not quite finished yet, but I'll share a really funky project I came up with today.

Seen one of these before??!! 

They're normally bolted to the top of a barricade. Flashing like crazy.

Not sure how my sis ended up with this, but I'm glad she did! 

I ran to the hardware store looking for something to help me rig this thing into a bedside light for the boys.

To my surprise they had exactly what I needed and it was only $5.

Back to the flasher....

These things are powered by battery normally.....

But I gutted it. 

all of it.....

and somehow managed to use a few of the existing parts and make it run with electricity!

Took a lot of brainstorming. Lots of screw drivers, scissors, tin snips and a few swear words..

But I finally got it put back together. 

Now it's a totally funky light that my boys are gonna love!!

Stinkin' cute, right??!! And I didn't even electrocute myself! :)

Stay tuned for the boys room redo. It's nearly done!

Hoping to get it finished in the next few days!

...Linked to...

Vintage Revival..Look what I found Friday!

New rug...

I ordered this rug  for our front room today. I've been looking since December for one that I loved so hopefully when it gets here I still love it. I tend to change my mind a lot!

Progress!

Salon/Laundry room [aka "salaundry" as the kids like to call it.]

BEFORE... 

This room, like every other room in the house, was the yellowy band-aid color too.
So very bad. 

AFTER...

Don't look too closely at the wall above the window.

 It still needs paint and so does the wall where the washer and dryer are, but I can't move 'em by myself!

It's getting close! 

Still need to pick out some sort of counter tops or shelves and get the mirror hung up. 

It's heavy!

Color is Valspar 'Smoke Infusion' (same as the kitchen)

I'm loving how it's coming along. 

Pretty soon I can relax..until I find something else to paint! :)

But for now, I gotta go clean the house that fell apart while I painted this morning.

It's my turn to host bunko tomorrow and I haven't done a thing to prepare!

a new kitchen light...

You've gotta check this out! CLICK HERE This is one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time! 

I had to make one for myself! It works perfectly in our 'new' kitchen. I love it and it was cheap and easy!!

You start with an Easter basket...

 Take the handle off.
 And cut a hole out to fit this CAN LIGHT-TO-PENDANT LIGHT CONVERSION KIT
You can get it at Lowe's for about $20

 A few coats of paint...

I chose oil rubbed bronze to match our faucet and drawer pulls in the rest of the kitchen.

 Put it all together. Now my boring empty kitchen window....

... is all fancied up!

 Here's a close up shot! It's too cool!!

Go check out CRAP I'VE MADE.

You'll love what you find! Such a fun blog!

kitchen before and after...

 Unless you've been to our house you can't truly know how ugly the current paint is. It's really bad! Just a gross yellowy band-aid color. It's bad! And it's throughout the entire house. Slowly, we're changing it. Slowly!

Before... (ignore the mess. I still had to be 'mom' during the painting process) Ugly, right!!??

 And yes, that's the screen door leaning up against the back door.  Apparently one of the kids didn't realize the screen was shut and went right through it. Just added to the chaos while I was trying to paint.

AFTER... Love the color but hate that giant light! The kids call it the 'bathtub light'.

 Maybe if I paint the trim white it won't stand out so bad.

We went through a million different colors. The one we finally chose was Valspar 'Smoke Infusion'. It's the perfect grey/blue/green. It looks good in every light and it opens the space so much and has a nice calming feel to it. We need calm around here!

a little overwhelmed

understatement of the year...

14 colors, 14 COLORS!!

Still have no clue what color to paint the house. 

Slowly but surely...

I'm a horrible picture taker! But these pictures will have to do!
DURING....

-This project sat like this for over a month. I ran out of energy

I FINALLY PAINTED IT....

I love how it looks! It opens the room up and makes it feel much bigger than it is. 

*NOTE* I f we ever do any sort of molding again (which I'm sure we will...already have a few more ideas in mind) I will definitely paint the walls and the boards before hand and then touch up nail holes afterwards. This was quite the lengthy project. Lots of little crevices and it would have been a lot quicker had I painted first!

Linked to DecorChick Molding Party!

can't decide what's uglier...

The existing paint, the new paint or the color of our banister.

Glad I didn't buy the giant 5 gallon buckets before I tested it out!

I was shooting for a greyed taupe. This just looks like a dirty white.

 It looks bad in the picture but it looks even worse in real life. gross.
ha ha!! If you stare at it long enough
 it starts to look like the silhouette of a bearded man.
Note to self: 'Oatlands Subtle Taupe' is not the color to go with

It's the best grey ever...

City Storm by Valspar

I just finished painting two bedside tables for our master bedroom.
They still need a coat of poly, but I had to show you this color.
 Now I just need to find some drawer pulls and finish the lamps I started to go on top of the tables.  

I'm in the middle of decorating our room, so until It's finished, these pictures will have to do.

This grey will definitely find itself in a few more places in my house!

 LOVE IT!

--plus--

Here's a sneak peek of the bedding I bought this week!

It's being delivered tomorrow! eeeek!!! :)

Yellow..

I traded Melanie some of my furniture stash for this beauty.
 I'd guess it was made sometime in the mid 70's.

 Long before I was born!

Primed it (sorry, no picture of that step) with Kilz spray primer.

Then gave it 3 coats of Krylon" Bauhaus Gold" spray paint.

 I used Ralph Lauren "smoke" glaze. I applied it pretty heavily and then wiped it off to my liking. 

Finished it off with two coats of Minwax semi-gloss polycrylic. Good stuff. Adds a really hard, strong top coat and doesn't turn brown/yellow like polyurethane does.

It sits underneath our TV and stores some of the kids toys. 

Still haven't found the perfect knobs yet, which I'm really in no hurry to do since the kids toys are now trapped inside. :) My oldest two have figured out how to pry it open, but it still keeps number 3 & 4 out!

What do ya think of the color? Too crazy? Too bold? 

Nah, it's gonna look good with the paint I've picked out for the walls 

and the fabric I bought for the curtains. 

before and after

 An old dresser I painted for an old friend last summer.

before...

after.....       the picture quality is horrible. I am not a photographer

One of my favorites so far. 

Jet black paint (can't remember the brand)

Sanded the edges

4 coats of stain/poly in one

Would have kept it if I thought I could have gotten away with it!

a new adventure.....

We just bought our second home and we've got an endless list of 'house projects'. This blog is a way to record all of our adventures while turning this house into our home.